Business
Rivers Workers Lament Cut In Salaries …Seek Governor’s Intervention
Some workers in the Rivers State Civil Service have called on the state Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, to intervene in the persistent cut in the their monthly salaries.
The affected workers who spoke to The Tide in separate interviews expressed worry over the development.
According to James Ugo (not real name), a staff of the State Post-Primary Schools board, for over four months, his salary has witnessed a drastic drop.
He explained that efforts to address the anomaly had so far not yielded any result.
Ugo explained that on a daily basis he shuttles between the ICT office and the state-ministry of finance.
The Tide gathered that officers at the ICT Department always directed affected workers to the Ministry of Finance , yet none has reported any success in addressing their matter.
Further investigations revealed that some of the affected workers have lost confidence in the ability or willingness of the Finance ministry to handle the matter holistically.
Some have even accused staff of the ministry of perpetrating the act, even as they frowned at the demands made on them to produce certain documents before they are attended to.
“Last week they asked me to bring a bank statement and I did that .”
“Today they said they do not want bank statement but pay slip of January, 2017, which has not come out , so something is fishy”, he said.
Lending his voice to the development, a state council member of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Comrade Amadi Akujobi, berated staff of the ICT Department for negligence.
He explained that so long as workers were placed on a particular salary scale, there was no need for them to be short paid.
“Every ministry, department and agencies generates data and submits same to them (ICT Unit) so on their part they should work accordingly based on the data supplied”, he said.
Akujobi further explained that the ICT staff were expected to submit same to the ministry of finance without adding or subtracting any figure.
Akujobi, who is also the secretary of NUJ at The Tide chapel called for a complete overhaul of the ICT Department, even as he called for professionalizing the unit.
He disclosed that apart from the most recent cases of salary cut, some workers had complained that since March, 2016, they have been having these problems. The unionist called on the state governor to look into the matter of salary disparity among workers in the state.
“I am sure he is not aware of these deductions that workers notice in their salaries every month”.
“The ICT people should own up and take the blame because everything about salaries are being processed there and sent to the banks while the finance ministry is just an administrator”, he said.
He further called on staff of the Ministry of Finance to properly inform workers on the development through an enlightenment process, in order to avoid the situation of “come today, come tomorrow”.
On the loss of man – hours, regarding the issue, Akujobi, said it cannot be quantified.
“The government is losing because the time you should use to put in your best is being spent to address matters of salaries that have been unduly cut”, he said.
He said the bottomline remained for government to come up with a policy to guide the ICT and Ministry of Finance.
Business
NASS Engages Agric Minister On Food Crisis
The National Assembly through its joint committee on Agriculture Production Services and Rural Development has engaged the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari on an urgent solution to food inflation bedeviling the country.
The committee chaired by Senator Saliu Mustapha (APC Kwara Central), at an interface with the Minister, interrogated him on plans being put in place to arrest high cost of food prices in the country and make it affordable and available to the poor masses.
In his response, the Minister said the Federal Government has commenced distribution of 42,000 metric tonnes of grains to some focal points of state capitals nationwide.
“We have received directive and approval from Mr. President to distribute for immediate impact 42,000 metric tons of assorted grains free of charge to the Nigerian population.
“This was received in mid-February, as we are speaking, we have a record of the distribution being carried out, but I will want to plead with the honorable house and distinguished senators that some of the movements can’t be made public but a lot of states have started receiving their grains.
“We are distributing to state capitals in the first instance as you all are aware of the risk involved in the vandalism of foodstuff so we are working with the office of the national security adviser and other national security agencies.
“Furthermore, 58,500 metric tonnes of milled rice from mega rice millers will also be released into the market for stabilisation”, he said.
Speaking with newsmen shortly after the interactive session, Senator Mustapha expressed satisfaction with the steps being taken by the federal government.
He said: “From our interactive session, we are on the other side of the parliament; we are fully in the picture of what is happening, we are convinced that the steps being taken by the federal government are in the right direction.
“All we did again is to further emphasise on the need for certain things to be done on time, I think from this collaborative approach by the grace of God, Nigerians will have a better feel of the government policy on food security”.
Business
Obj Harps On Cheap Credit, Policy Consistency For Food Production
Nigeria’s former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has called on the government to provide cheap credit and ensure policy consistency to enable farmers increase food production in the country.
The former President made the call as food inflation and nutrition security concerns grow in Africa’s most populous country.
Obasanjo’s made the call at the 9th Agrofood & Plastprintpack conference in Lagos recently, where he said farmers in the country were yearning for consistency in policy and single-digit interest loans to drive growth in the sector and attain food security.
“Policy sustainability and predictability is what farmers want. It helps them to plan. Availability of finance is also what farmers want. They cannot survive on the double digital interest rate”, Obasanjo, who is also a farmer, said at the conference.
According to him, food and nutrition security start with availability, then affordability by ensuring that everyone who needs food can get it.
He noted that food was one of the major imperatives in life, adding that “there cannot be food without agriculture and agribusiness”.
Obasanjo further stressed the importance of agriculture in changing the fortunes of the economy, with attendant exponential gains by way of earnings, employment, food security and other spin-offs.
He noted that agriculture must be made attractive to the country’s teeming youth population, saying this would address the rising unemployment, worsening insecurity and youth migration through the Mediterranean.
“We have to make agriculture attractive to the youths. We have to think within and outside the box to make it attractive to the youths so they are willing to get their hands dirty and feet wet”, he advised.
He continued that “Part of the security issue is owing to our inability to get them engaged. The need for agro-food and agribusiness is for food security, employment, wealth creation and income generation, particularly foreign exchange”.
Speaking also, Wouter Plom, the ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, said his country had faced challenges similar to those Nigeria confronts – feeding a growing population with limited resources.
He said as partners with a joint vision, the Netherlands and Nigeria recognise that the agricultural sector was one of the prominent drivers for economic growth.
He noted that the Netherlands has further strengthened its partnership with Nigeria to boost the agriculture sector in three main areas- economic growth, improved diets and youth employment.
The ambassador noted that all the challenges in driving growth through the sector, improving diets and tackling unemployment can be addressed when food production is efficient.
Paul Maerz, Managing Director of Fairtrade Messe, said with more investment in agro-food & plastprintpack solutions, products and technologies, brighter days were ahead for Nigeria’s agriculture.
Business
Abuja Farmers, Others Lose N12bn To Ginger Disease
The Federal Government, has confirmed the outbreak of ginger blight epidemic in four States in Nigeria, saying ginger farmers have lost over N12 billion due to the disease.
The government disclosed this at the inauguration of the National Ginger Blight Epidemic Control Taskforce in Abuja, revealing that the fungal disease had inflicted significant damage on ginger farms in Kaduna, Nassarawa Plateau and the Federal Capital Territory.
The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Aliyu Abdullahi, said the blight had caused billions of naira in losses, impacting not only the livelihoods of farmers, but also Nigeria’s position as the world’s second-largest ginger producer.
“Our preliminary estimates suggested that affected farmers in southern Kaduna lost over N12bn.
“Furthermore, considering that over 85 per cent of Nigeria’s ginger cultivation occurs in this region, we can safely assume a substantial loss of cultivated land, potentially exceeding 70 per cent of total land”, he stated.
Abdullahi, however, stated that the Federal Government through the National Agricultural Development Fund would launch a N1.6bn recovery package for affected farmers in ginger-producing areas.
He said the ginger blight epidemic served as a stark reminder of the importance of preparedness in safeguarding agricultural resources, adding that by investing in research, extension services and farmer support systems, “we can build a more sustainable future for our agricultural sector”.
On his part, the Chairman of the task force committee, Abubakar Abdullahi, said there was no doubt that the blight on ginger had negatively affected the Gross Domestic Product earnings from this subsector.
“It is of necessity and great urgency that various subcommittees are put in place to forestall these negative effects”, he stated.
Abdullahi assured the minister of the commitment of the team to salvage the situation, as he pleaded with the minister to give the committee the power to co-opt members that would add value to the task force to discharge their duties efficiently and effectively.
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